*I didnt mean to make this so long, but if you feel like reading a good well-informed discussion post, read on*
So, a random off topic post on another forum reminded me of something that got brought up in one of my classes recently that's really had me wondering about the addictive personalities of people in America. I was going to post this in SD, but instead of ending up with a good bashing, I thought i'd post it in roadside to get some good discussion going.
Anyway, most people anymore are pretty much addicted to energy drinks. It seems if kids in high school aren't slapping on monster energy stickers on everything they own and drinking one before school, taking one for lunch, drinking one after school and one with dinner, they aren't cool.
I also notice adults drinking them for a pick me up, or because they taste good, and I seriously see people loading up with like 6 at a time in gas stations. The thing that I don't understand is that much like cigarettes and alcohol, energy drinks have no real impact on your "energy level" except when you first use them, and after a while you're just drinking them because of a psychological dependency ( Note I said Psychological, not physical).
It's kind of hard to think about how a person could compare an energy drink to two licit drugs, but for example, a person who drinks three beers a day builds up a tolerance to those three beers, and can drink them daily without getting drunk. However a person with no alcohol tolerance may feel buzzed after one. Same with cigarettes, a person who smokes a whole cigarette once every 6 months can experience a nicotine induced "high" and feel on top of the world, but a daily smoker simply suffers from nicotine addiction.
Energy drinks have an extremely similar predicament. A person who drinks a monster when they actually "need" it, usually will get a boost of energy from all of the supplements inside. A person who drinks 3 a day feels basically no effect, and has their kidneys begging for mercy, and that isn't speculation. That's a fact. I know of several people who have had kidney trouble and when they went to the ER because they were in such bad pain, one of the first thing the doctor asked them about was how many energy drinks they drink in a day. In one extreme case, I know a 30 year old man who i'd see in the gas station EVERY morning this summer when i'd stop in to get a water
before my workout, who was going to work and would be buying a 4 pack of monster at the exact time I was buying my water. Every morning. Never failed. One morning, he wasn't there, I figured he was just sick. Next morning, still didn't show. Comes to find out, he was basically put on a "less harsh" form of dialysis because his kidneys were actually failing due to all of the un-needed supplements in his body.
Don't get me wrong, i'm not one of those people who see something like energy drinks harming certain people and I suddenly think they should have an age limit or be regulated, I say we have freedom, it's your body, do what you want with it, but the fact that according to a 2010 survey that we went over in one of my classes, Energy drink consumption has went up over 250% since 2008. The top consumer, you ask? Teenagers who drink them while playing video games.
Carnitine, Beta-Alanine, Creatine... Those are ingredients that I have in some of the supplements I take before my two hour long workout routine everyday. Those are also the ingredients in a ton of the energy drinks out there that kids are consuming to play video games better? Just seems pointless. $3 a can to destroy your kidneys and make your piss expensive.
So, a random off topic post on another forum reminded me of something that got brought up in one of my classes recently that's really had me wondering about the addictive personalities of people in America. I was going to post this in SD, but instead of ending up with a good bashing, I thought i'd post it in roadside to get some good discussion going.
Anyway, most people anymore are pretty much addicted to energy drinks. It seems if kids in high school aren't slapping on monster energy stickers on everything they own and drinking one before school, taking one for lunch, drinking one after school and one with dinner, they aren't cool.
I also notice adults drinking them for a pick me up, or because they taste good, and I seriously see people loading up with like 6 at a time in gas stations. The thing that I don't understand is that much like cigarettes and alcohol, energy drinks have no real impact on your "energy level" except when you first use them, and after a while you're just drinking them because of a psychological dependency ( Note I said Psychological, not physical).
It's kind of hard to think about how a person could compare an energy drink to two licit drugs, but for example, a person who drinks three beers a day builds up a tolerance to those three beers, and can drink them daily without getting drunk. However a person with no alcohol tolerance may feel buzzed after one. Same with cigarettes, a person who smokes a whole cigarette once every 6 months can experience a nicotine induced "high" and feel on top of the world, but a daily smoker simply suffers from nicotine addiction.
Energy drinks have an extremely similar predicament. A person who drinks a monster when they actually "need" it, usually will get a boost of energy from all of the supplements inside. A person who drinks 3 a day feels basically no effect, and has their kidneys begging for mercy, and that isn't speculation. That's a fact. I know of several people who have had kidney trouble and when they went to the ER because they were in such bad pain, one of the first thing the doctor asked them about was how many energy drinks they drink in a day. In one extreme case, I know a 30 year old man who i'd see in the gas station EVERY morning this summer when i'd stop in to get a water
before my workout, who was going to work and would be buying a 4 pack of monster at the exact time I was buying my water. Every morning. Never failed. One morning, he wasn't there, I figured he was just sick. Next morning, still didn't show. Comes to find out, he was basically put on a "less harsh" form of dialysis because his kidneys were actually failing due to all of the un-needed supplements in his body.
Don't get me wrong, i'm not one of those people who see something like energy drinks harming certain people and I suddenly think they should have an age limit or be regulated, I say we have freedom, it's your body, do what you want with it, but the fact that according to a 2010 survey that we went over in one of my classes, Energy drink consumption has went up over 250% since 2008. The top consumer, you ask? Teenagers who drink them while playing video games.
Carnitine, Beta-Alanine, Creatine... Those are ingredients that I have in some of the supplements I take before my two hour long workout routine everyday. Those are also the ingredients in a ton of the energy drinks out there that kids are consuming to play video games better? Just seems pointless. $3 a can to destroy your kidneys and make your piss expensive.
